Australia’s national body for engineering has welcomed the release of Infrastructure Victoria’s plan to reduce infrastructure emissions. The report highlights the role digital engineering is set to play in decarbonising the infrastructure sector.   

Engineers Australia Chief Executive Romilly Madew AO said “Eliminating infrastructure-related greenhouse gas emissions is a complex, but incredibly important task.   

“Australia’s infrastructure sector must take immediate action to start to reduce emissions throughout the whole system, while also building in greater resilience to critical infrastructure components.  

“Co-operation between government and industry should be at the heart of the response.  Our communities rely on the states and territories to deliver much needed infrastructure and those governments should lead the way in reducing emissions,” Ms Madew said.   

Engineers Australia is a member of the Infrastructure Net Zero initiative and was pleased to engage with Infrastructure Victoria and share insights from the engineering profession in the development of this advice to the Victorian Government.   

“The Victorian Government has a plan in place to increase the use of digital engineering in infrastructure planning and delivery. We are pleased to see Infrastructure Victoria highlight the increasingly important role digital engineering and engineers will play in decarbonising the sector,” Ms Madew said.   

“From designing less waste and materials into buildings, through to exploring low or non-build solutions and adapting current infrastructure assets to meet future needs, digital engineering will support the sector in finding low carbon solutions.   

“Engineers play a critical role in decarbonising our country. We need to see more engineers in Government to help to evaluate different solutions and to make decisions on the best technologies and solutions available to achieve this outcome” Ms Madew said.